Tips to still have fun on a rainy day at the Houston Zoo (or any zoo)
Even though we have a yearly membership to the Houston Zoo, we don’t visit nearly as often as we want to. We try to visit at least four times a year. On this particular day, we had planned to meet some friends at the zoo. What we didn’t plan for was a rainy, soggy day. Luckily for us, by the time we got there, the rain has slowed more to a heavy mist. Also lucky for us, the animals were way more active! Who knew that an overcast, rainy day would make the best day to see the animals in action?
Tip #1
This Rhinoceros greets zoo visitors just inside the gate! The first and most obvious tip for a rainy day at the zoo is to bring an UMBRELLA! Not just any umbrella, but one of those gigantic golf umbrellas that can hold the average large family so that everyone and everything you bring with you can be protected!
Tip #2
While a rainy day here in Houston just might look different than a rainy day in Seattle, having just the right kind shoes are still an important part of making a soggy day fun! Anyone who lives in the Houston area or has ever visited the area knows that when it rains, it doesn’t just sprinkle. It pours buckets when it rains. Which in turn, leaves huge puddles everywhere you go. My little boys, just like I’m sure 90% of other boys, jump in a puddle as soon as they see the puddle. On this particular day, one of my boys chose to wear athletic shoes and the other wore Walmart’s version of Native shoes. Aaron, the one wearing athletic shoes, had to spend the day with soggy shoes. Adler, wearing the waterproof shoes, was a much happier little guy! Now, if you live somewhere that isn’t summer weather 9 months out of the year, then the Walmart natives (or croc type shoes) wouldn’t work for you.
Tip #3
Going anywhere with 4 boys requires me to have extra patience and energy, but taking half my kiddos to an outdoor place in the rain requires something a little extra…sense of humor! At some point you just have to give up the umbrella and embrace the wetness. We aren’t the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz that will melt in the rain! We can or should be able to handle being a bit soggy to enjoy watching the animals, knowing full well that we can change as soon as we get home! That is where packing a sense of humor would make light of this situation.
Tip #4
Living in Houston and having 4 adventurous boys, I should always have these packed in my car. And, yet, I keep forgetting to put some in the car! Towels!!! There are so many time that having a towel would’ve come in handy. On this particular zoo day, my friend had brought a towel since I wasn’t quite that prepared! We had packed our lunches ( I highly recommend doing this as well), but the benches were all wet! To our benefit, we were able to wipe down the benches with her towel! If we had gotten completely soaked through, we would’ve been able to dry our bodies off a little bit as well when we left the zoo. Since the rain had slowed down to just a heavy mist, we were able to stay fairly dry.
Last, but not least, Tip #5
This last tip really applies to anyone who has little people surrounding them each day! For some reason I have gotten out of this habit and I don’t know why! Bringing a change of clothes is such a smart thing to do whenever you travel more than 10 minutes from home. If my boys had gotten super wet at the zoo, I could’ve changed their clothes to make the long ride home more enjoyable for them. Luckily, like I said, we didn’t get too wet from the day.
All in all, we had a wonderful day at the zoo. We were able to see the lions and the jaguars pacing in their enclosures. Because of the rain, the zoo was pretty empty! We didn’t have to wait in line to feed the giraffes! Given the chance, I would totally go back to the zoo on a rainy day!
